Editorial: Let’s finally finish the Bruce Highway

There are two things that unite pretty well every Queenslander: their love of our State of Origin rugby league team, and stories of woe from their travels along the Bruce Highway, writes the editor.

The Bruce Highway is Queensland’s longest and most neglected stretch of road.

There are two things that unite pretty well every Queenslander: their love of our State of Origin rugby league team, and stories of woe from their travels along the Bruce Highway.

And now we know why – thanks to a new survey of Queensland motorists by NRMA Insurance that reveals three-quarters of us have been held up by an accident on the highway, and one in three have avoided it altogether when deciding where to head for family holidays.

VOTE IN OUR POLL BELOW AND SHARE YOUR BRUCE HIGHWAY EXPERIENCES IN THE COMMENTS AT THE BOTTOM

And that is a big problem, because this 1700km stretch of road is the connective tissue of our state – the only real option when travelling by road between our major coastal cities.

It is, as Mackay-raised reporter Michael Madigan writes today, “Queensland’s Main Street – the tarmac used to whisk us between regional cities for weekend school sporting comps … and the pathway to the glamour of Brisbane and the Gold or Sunshine coasts” where so many regional Queenslanders go for their holidays. It is also the lifeline along which most goods up north have been transported. But sadly, it is not up to scratch.

As we report today, in kicking off what will be a concerted push for change by The Courier-Mail and all of our regional mastheads along the coast, a shocking 90 per cent of the Bruce Highway is not assessed as being of a four- or five-star safety rating (out of five). Almost half of it is rated just two stars.

This is a disgrace. But it is also a disgrace that both the state and federal governments do not want you to know this information, which is compiled under the Australian Road Assessment Program – based on a global standard that, when acted on, has been credited with saving half a million lives across 128 countries.

We only know what we do know because of a Right to Information request seeking the data lodged by Llew O’Brien, the federal Liberal MP for the seat of Wide Bay – an electorate based around Gympie and Maryborough that is almost perfectly bisected by the Bruce.

The release of this assessment on a more regular basis will form the first of our demands from this Help Our Highway campaign, a series that was prompted by the unanimous verdict of every one of our regional editors – that fixing the Bruce must be among the top priorities for both the state and federal governments as they head towards elections in the next year.

Is it unrealistic to expect that the highway will ever boast the gold-plated four- or six-lane divided standard that the M1 now is for its entire length between the big capital cities of Brisbane and Sydney and Melbourne? Perhaps.

But surely it is not unrealistic for a federal government led by a confessed infrastructure nerd such as Anthony Albanese is to commit to a program to one day “finish” the Bruce – as you could safely say is now the case for the highway linking the three big capitals.

Such a commitment would certainly win plaudits from a part of the nation that Prime Minister Albanese’s Labor Party will need to win some seats in to govern in majority after the next election.

And it would certainly be a far more effective way to approach this grand challenge than the patchwork and piecemeal one taken to date by so many elected politicians – both state and federal – who have come and gone over the years, akubra hats on as they try to convince voters in regional Queenslanders that they care.

MAKE THE ACADEMY INDEPENDENT

The state government’s decision to undertake a structural review of the Queensland Academy of Sport is necessary in the wake of the shock departure of “gold medal maker” Chelsea Warr as CEO early this year, and the subsequent resignation of chair Renita Garard.

The academy has led our state’s production line of elite athletes since it formed in 1991, but sadly has been recently undermined by political interference and strangled by unnecessary bureaucracy.

This is clearly an unacceptable situation as our athletes set their sights on Brisbane’s 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The loss of Ms Warr was a disaster for Queensland sport. Her pedigree includes being instrumental in Team GB’s success at the London and Rio Games through her role as UK Sport’s Performance Director.

Her exit prompted supercoach Wayne Bennett to make a rare foray into politics. He warned: “Elite sport cannot run with severe government constraints. I know in coaching where I have just been able to do my job it works. Anywhere I have gone where people prevent me from doing my job it just gets very hard.’’

Something is clearly amiss, so the independent reviewer – to be appointed – will have their work cut out. If they recommend greater independence for the Academy, we trust Premier Steven Miles won’t just ignore the findings.

Forget stadiums. Without local athletes winning medals, our Games will go down as a failure.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here